Chapter 1
A faint knocking sound echoed in the background of my dream. It grew louder and louder until I was sitting up in my bed, staring at my wall in moderate darkness. I closed my eyes, crossed my legs and listened to the twirling fan above me, wishing that I was still asleep. The knocking returned and I opened my eyes. I turned to my window covered by heavy white blinds.
I hopped off my bed, my sheets dragged down to the floor by my feet. The knocking continued, and for some odd reason, I wasn’t anxious to learn what caused it. I threw away the blinds with a swipe of my hand and through the glass door I stared into the emerald eyes of my friend, sparkling in the new morning sun. How he got onto the second floor balcony of my house about an hour walk away from his, I had no idea. He was dressed, but his blonde hair was frazzled, it never was. I grinned, I liked the way each light strand of hair danced in the soft breeze. I assumed that he had barely woken up and thrown on a shirt and pants that happened to be stylish in my opinion. The shirt was loose with a neatly trimmed edge rather than a collar. I would say he wore a t-shirt only it wasn’t. The fabric had that linen look with a subtle stripe and pattern of flora, masculine and feminine all at once. And he wore blue jeans, the ends of them rolled up so his ankles were showing. He had always been a dapper young man. I guess that summed Nashua Degray up pretty well; beautiful, easy to love.
I quietly opened the sliding door and stepped outside. The autumn trees full of color started to sway behind him as a gust of wind blew my long brown hair in my tan face; the blinds behind me swayed left and right. He studied at me from head to toe and smiled. He smiled that sweet smile that always made me smile too. But my smile quickly faded. The breeze stopped just as quickly as it came.
I frowned at him as I rubbed my eyes, “Why are you here? Go home, Nash. You’re going to get us into trouble.” I said wanly, turning around to go back inside.
“Wait.” I heard him take a step toward me from behind.
“Yeah?” I spun around and spread my arms, overwhelmed by his light bronze skin shining in the morning sun. “Why are you here?”
He peered up at the red and yellow leaves just to observe them trickle down onto my family’s nicely cut front lawn. He looked back at me. “I need to come with me.”
My heart stopped. I couldn’t help but wonder where he would take me. Maybe a place where he would confess his unconditional and undying love for me. Or, no, maybe he would take me to the most beautiful place in town, maybe in the world, and talk on and on about how amazing I am, then he would lean in and...I shook my head and silently chuckled at myself.
As much as my curiosity urged me to comply with his offer, I said with an assertive tone, “No, why should I do that?” I didn’t intend to sound rude, but I had just been woken up from a deep sleep that I was enjoying.
He benevolently stared at me with his emerald eyes. In the bright morning sunlight he looked more handsome and more human than I’d ever seen him. “I guess I’m asking you to trust me,” He said, a soft, sweet smile forming on his face.
I could feel how flustered my cheeks were. “I-I…” He grabbed my arm and my whole body became stiff as a statue. His smile faded and it almost looked as if he were frowning. I looked up at him with big, brown childish eyes, unknowing of what his next move was. My heart was pounding, maybe he was going to kiss me.
He released his tight grip suddenly, and he climbed over the railing of the balcony onto the closest tree. I let out a hidden sigh of relief. I watched him effortlessly make his way down the bark without any missteps. He looked up at me from grass. “Come hither.” He beckoned to me.
I glanced down at myself. Sweatpants and a t-shirt, not a great look. I shrugged, there was no downfall to his offer. “Alright, Romeo, I’m hithering.” I leapt over the railing and onto the tree with ease. I used the tree branches for support as I lowered myself down. I gracefully stepped down onto the soft, green grass. “Where are we going?” I questioned.
Nash looked around quickly as if he were checking to see if he was being watched. He shook his head and turned back to me. “Just follow me, and you’ll find out.”
I pressed my lips together, rather disappointed that he was hesitant to tell me.
He stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans and walked along the sidewalk. The sunlight above us shone through the trees that we walked under. I trailed behind him, afraid to start a conversation, I didn’t want to make it awkward but sadly it already was. Nash lead me out of my neighborhood and to the grass that followed the streets.
Nash smiled at me and then sprinted to the right. I frowned. “Hey!” I called out, running after him.
I heeded his laugh from behind him. He led me all the way to a park that I had never seen despite the fact that I had been living in frisco my whole fifteen years of life. We sat on a bench and watched the sun rise higher and higher.
Nash clasped his hands together and stood up. “Alright, I should head home now, you too.” He started to walk away.
“Wait.” I stood up. “That’s it?”
He shrugged, “I guess so.” He nodded at me and sighed, walking away.
I swallowed, trying to hide my emotions. I sat back down and bit my lower lip, squeezing my hands tightly together in my lap.
I sat for about five minutes, thinking. Thinking about something that I don’t remember, because at that point in time a buzzing noise rang in my ears. I swatted my hand by my ear, mistaking the buzzing for a bee. The buzzing was quiet, but it was quite aggravating. I stood up and started to make my way back home. The buzzing continued, and I kept expecting a bee. It got louder and louder to the point where didn’t sound like buzzing anymore. It sounded like someone was saying something, but it was so muffled that I couldn’t make out the words. I spun around, thinking that Nash had come back to tell me something, but there was no one. I pressed my hands against my ears. It was so loud that it brought physical pain upon me. I fell to my knees as blurred cars soundlessly swopped past me. I gaped at my sweaty hands that clutched the green grass strands beneath me. At that moment, I could literally feel the adrenaline coursing through my popping veins. Despite the fact that my heart was racing at a speed unknown to man and my brain was screaming at me to do something to stop the ordeal, but I couldn’t move.
And then, as chapters usually seem to end…
Everything went black.
